Dust deposition at a Gold Mine Village in the West Rand

Abstract

Abstract: For communities found encroaching tailings storage facilities (TSFs) in the Witwatersrand, windblown dust is perceived as a health threat and an environmental challenge. The community from a gold mine village in the West Rand perceives Tailings Storage Facility number 6 and other surrounding tailings storage facilities which are partially rehabilitated to be a health and socio economic threat. Since 2013, when a gold mine in close proximity to this community was liquidated complaints about dust have been prevalent and nothing has been done in terms of rehabilitation. To validate the claims made by the community this paper reports on the dust deposition, and respiratory illnesses risk posed by wind-blown generated dust. The study conducts an air quality assessment using dispersion modelling of windblown dust. Surface material from the TSFs was sampled, analysed for silica and heavy metal content using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and inductively coupled plasma- mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). This paper finds dust fallout, PM10, high silica and uranium content which could potentially pose health threats to the surrounding community. The paper further shows that dust deposition is the highest in July-October, with TSF6 posing a nuisance while TSF1 being a potential health threat owing to its particle size distribution for the surrounding gold mine villages